'LISTENing effort and societal participation : a program of research and training'

The project

Hearing loss is one of the most prevalent European disabilities. It is associated with increased levels of distress, fatigue and need for recovery. This causes withdrawal from major social
roles, such as the occupational role and imposes a risk for the ageing European population. LISTEN aims to train two Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) with their own speciality through research examining which current and new hearing aid technologies can successfully
decrease listening effort required during speech perception. An innovative method to quantify listening effort (pupillometry) will be further developed. Novel concepts translating laboratory findings back to daily life practice will be explored and validated.

Your challenge

As a PhD Student your main responsibilites are:

To perform a systematic review of the literature, followed by at least three experimental studies using pupillometry and questionnaires;

To contribute to the planning of test sessions, preparation of test equipment and stimuli;

To recruit test subjects, analyse statistical data, presentation of data in written and oral form, and writing of scientific output;

To conduct the studies among both normally hearing persons and hearing impaired adult persons;

Work very closely and complement the other PhD Student, as you will be dependent on each other for cross-disciplinary support.

Your profile

We are looking for a PhD student with the following background and expertise:

Candidates preferably either know or are willing to learn the Dutch and/or Danish language.

Candidates may come from any country in the world, but must not have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies etc) in the Netherlands for more than 12 months in the
3 years immediately prior to his/her recruitment. Short stays, such as holidays, are not taken into account.

Benefits

We offer a contract for initally 3 years, to be extended with 12 months to complete your PhD. You will be provided with a good start-up package needed to relocate.

Salary scale: OIO(EUR 2.162 gross/month in the first year which increases yearly till EUR 2.770 in the fourth year).

The administrative and supervisory base of the project is in Amsterdam, but extended stays at Oticon's Eriksholm Research Center (www.eriksholm.com)
near Copenhagen will amount to approximately 50% of the time, with the possibility for short stays at the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of hearing in Warsaw (http://whc.ifps.org.pl).

Recruitment will occur according to The European Charter for Researchers and The Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers.

Eriksholm pursues audiological
discoveries with the potential to
significantly enhance end-user
benefits in future hearing care.
We work in close collaboration
with academic research institutions,
clinicians and end-users, and being
part of Oticon ensures that our scien-
tific insights are applied in solutions
that empower people with hearing loss.